Kiss Me Slowly
by ItaminoHime
Summary: Do you know what it's like? To pretend to be okay, when the world is really crumbling beneath you. To pretend to be someone you're not, because you're terrified of the rejection. What happens when Shikamaru comes across Ino, living in her reality. What happens when their paths accidentally intertwine in the rain?


This is something I just felt like writing because I was on a sugar high and my ShikaIno feels took over.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, as much as I wanted. I cannot have them because Kishimoto-sensei is a big poo poo head.

This is because _someone_ that remained unnamed *cough cough Nico cough cough* said I should update, so here behold! A ShikaIno fanfic by yours truly. I know i'm being cocky, hehe. I love you guys just saying~

* * *

Ino Yamanaka smiled as she walked, the sky above her a dark grey. She wanted it to rain so badly. She wanted to go to that secret place in the woods behind her house, and lose herself. Not many people, scratch that, no one knew the real her. The super self conscious, shy, timid girl hiding under all of her bold confidence. No one knew, not even her own mother. She walked the streets, her tight fitting purple attire snug as it framed her body perfectly.

No one even knew about the self-esteem issues she had, not a single soul. That's why, whenever it rained, the sixteen year old girl would go out of sight from the villagers, and lose herself in the rain. She walked, a pleasant smile on her face. Sometimes, she just needed to get away from it all. From the people who call her useless, through the suffocating grip of her clan, from life. So now, she just.. waited.

Ino walked through the village, a few civilians closing their shops due to the rain, but Ino didn't worry. She walked her hair in it's usual high ponytail, and a grin on those pink glossed lips. She was happy she had the escape, that so many people desired. If only...if only he knew the real her. That would make her life worth living, instead of living this complex, fake lie. Even the memory of him made her smile and blush. She was madly in love with him, but the confidence issues she had, didn't let her speak her mind.

She walked to the clans compound, and stuck to the shadows as she walked around the outer wall. The Yamanaka Compound wasn't like the Inuzuka's dog loving compound, or the Hyuuga's pretty one. The Yamanaka Compound was built for strength, for death, and for many restless souls of the clans' dearly departed.

Ino slunk into the shadows and grinned as the slight drizzle began. She ran through the forest, knowing everyone was soon to be heading home. She ran through the trees, smiling. She loved the feeling the rush of water gave her. She stopped in the middle of the free open field, and she let her hair down. She outstretched her arms as it began to pour, the rain increasing.

Ino let her eyes close and sighed. She spun in circles and ran around, singing and yelling at the top of her lungs. This was her escape, the one thing she did while no one was looking. She was hurting, and from everything. Asuma, her sensei, who she loved like a father, died fight before her arms. Him, the one that she was so in love with, but could never speak a word. She even missed Sasuke. But not for the reason one would think. She missed him, because he made the big forehead, pink haired girl happy. Sasuke made Sakura happy, and watching her still-best friend being torn apart, hurt her too.

She carried herself with confidence, and such boldness, because she didn't want anyone to see the breaking, dying, hurting girl inside. She was so terrified of showing people who she really was, it was only her that knew who she was.

Ino lived a huge fake lie, telling herself she was happy. She wasn't. She isn't. She's loud, and cocky, and bold, but not because she chooses to be, not because that's who she is. She does it to the hide the girl that stops to admire flowers in secret, or the one who sings in her underwear when she's home alone, or to hide the girl that she writes about in her diary. She acts the way she does, because she's terrified to show anyone the real her, in fear they would reject her. In a way, rejection hurt more than pain, and Ino learned that the hard way.

She lost herself as the rain poured down onto her, soaking her in minutes. Because for only this brief moment in time, she wasn't the heir to the Yamanaka clan, she wasn't Inochi's daughter, she wasn't even a ninja. She was purely Ino.

* * *

Shikamaru walked home lazily in the rain, the wet droplets splashing on his face in rhythmic patterns. He had been at his favorite cloud gazing spot, and the teen shinobi let himself smirk. He walked through the trees, already soaking wet. His mother would be furious, but he didn't care. He wasn't in any particular rush to get home.

Many people asked him why he loved to watch the clouds, and he always told them he found it fun. That was a lie. Ever since Asuma's death, the brunette had been deeply troubled, and if Asuma had not asked Shikamaru to watch over Kurenai and her unborn child, Shikamaru would have ended it. He deemed the world of the shinobi too hated, too...troublesome. Even after Asuma died, he put on the fake smile and pretended to be okay. He wasn't. Even now.

Cloud watching cleared his thoughts, and when he was lay there, in the grass with the blue sky above him, he felt the calm. He could see Asuma's face, and everyone else's that he's ever lost in his life. He saw them all, and he had longed to see them. It was his one escape to feel free. He felt as peace in the wretched world, full of pain.

It wasn't worth it, to he a shinobi wasn't worth it like he thought it would be. He loved being a shinobi, don't let him fool you, but Shikamaru was an oddity like that. He wanted nothing more than to grow old with her at his side, and have children, and fall in love with her all over again every time he looked into crystal blue eyes.

She made him smile, made him hurt. She was what made him wake up in the morning, and the last thing on his mind before he went to sleep. She was worth it all. Worth the pain, and the suffering. He believed, truly, that if he were to die a shinobi, he wanted to die by her side. And only then, when he knew he couldn't do anything more to save her, he would lie beside her, crush her body to him, and die next to her. He was born a day before her, and he would die the day after. His life encircled her's.

That's when he heard it, the blood curdling yell. Grabbing a kunai, he surveyed the area until he found the lone chakra signature. He ran to the person, and whipped through the trees. He was scared, he was always scared. He just had too much pride to admit it to anyone. He could die any minute, and that's what he feared. The one thing he wanted to do in his life, was tell her how he felt. At least, he wanted to. He could never find his words around her.

He stopped on a strong branch, and halted his movements. There she was, the same girl always on his mind. She danced in the ran, a smile on her face. Her long blonde hair was down and she was soaked. She yelled and sang and let out all of her anger and pain. And most of all, Shikamaru knew what she was doing. She was being free, if only for a few minutes, she was free.

* * *

Ino smiled and stopped dancing in the rain. The sound of the thunderstorm drowned out her cries and her anger. The flashes of lightning her only source of light. She smiled and sunk to her knees. She didn't cry as she often would, but she smiled. She kept her eyes closed as she looked up at the mysterious dark grey sky, and she sighed in relief. Images of him flooded her mind, and she could almost hear those words.  
"Too troublesome." She opened her eyes. He sounded like he was right there, and she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms.

The sounds of footsteps made her head loll back into place. She slowly looked over her shoulder and was shocked when she saw the boy she was just daydreaming about. He walked towards her, his hands deep in his pockets, soaken wet. He plopped down beside her, sitting in the wet grass. Ino was too frozen to speak. Had he heard her? She looked up at the sky and she smiled as the rain hit her face. Shikamaru just looked up at the sky, watching the clouds shift.

"It isn't easy, is it?" He asked and Ino turned to face him, blonde lashes slowly opening.  
"What isn't?" She asked and Shikamaru laid back in the grass, Ino following to lay beside him.  
"Pretending to be this person you're not. Pretending to be okay, when you're not. Pretending." He whispered and a crack of thunder scared Ino. She rolled over onto her side in the soaken field. She looked up at Shikamaru's eyes. They were a beautiful greyish green colour. They reminded Ino of the calm after the storm.

She made Shikamaru face her, both of them laying on their sides. Shikamaru was mesmerized by her beauty. Even soaken wet, her eyes all puffy, and her hair sprawled into the grass, she was still that breathtaking girl.  
"No. It's not Shikamaru." She whispered and he let his hand run fingers through her pale blonde hair. It fanned out around her on the grass, and the rain came down, not missing a beat in it's pattern.  
"I know how you're feeling. Like, you're constricted, confined." She smiled at his words, and closed her eyes.  
"Too scared to show the world how you feel, or who you are." She whispered and Shikamaru opened his eyes. "You're still hurting Shika. I'm not as dumb as some people think. You're still grieving the loss of a best friend, a mentor, a father figure." Shikamaru let a small smile fall onto his lips. Ino definitely was smarter than everyone thought. She knew how to tell if someone was lying when they said they were okay. She knew, because she was one of them.

"Too scared of rejection of those who care Ino. Too scared to be that quiet girl who loves to read and smell flowers." Ino's baby blue eyes widened and she smiled.  
"You know me so well Shika." She whispered and he caressed her cheek, looking deep in blue eyes.  
"They don't call me a genius for nothing Ino. I know, I've always known." he said and she scooted closer to him, feeling the warmth of his body, even though the bulky jounin vest. He held her in his arms and breathed in her scent.

Ino smelt like the beautiful exquisite flower she was. Like the Gardenia, a beautiful wild flower. Too much sun, and it'll wilt, and too much shade, and it'll die. Shikamaru always told himself he wanted to marry an average girl, and he thought about that for a minute. He shook his head and smiled. Ino wasn't an average girl, she was extraordinary. She was Ino.

"Shika, can I ask you something?" She whispered, her fingers playing with his mesh shirt.  
"Sure." He said, pressing their foreheads together.  
"Do you think i'm pretty?" She asked, her voice small. Shikamaru didn't skip a beat.  
"I think you're beautiful Ino." He told her and she met his eyes, looking into the dark green depths. "Ino... can I... can I kiss you?" He asked, and she looked up at him in shock. He was kind enough to care, enough of a gentleman to ask. Her heart skipped in her chest. He wanted to kiss her.

Without giving an answer, she inched closer to him, and her lips hovered the boy known as Shikamaru Nara. They both eased in, and their lips touched. Ino felt jolts of electricity go down her spine. Shikamaru felt his core flare to life, and one of his hands found the nape of her neck, and Ino's hand found it's way to his mesh shirt.

They were kissing, and nothing else mattered. Not the losing themselves in the rain, or the cloud gazing. Not the thought of Asuma brought them crying over their fallen comrade. Above the intimate two, the rain stopped to a slight drizzle, and the clouds parted. It was what they both admired the most. The rain, and the clouds. The restart of the water, the clouds Shikamaru admired, gave Ino what she felt free with. It had always been that way with them, Shikamaru gave Ino what she loved, and she returned that love, it was a never-ending cycle. Like the rain, and the clouds. Now, under the rebirth of the rain, they had the freedom to choose to be who they were born to be. The freedom, to be...themselves.


End file.
